EU migrants who move to Germany could be banned from receiving unemployment benefits for five years after arriving under proposed new laws.

Angela Merkel's cabinet is due to agree the plan next week amid a wider debate in Germany about high levels of immigration that threatens the Chancellor's hopes of re-election next year.

The planned law would ban new EU arrivals from claiming money from the 'Hartz IV' system if they do not have a job or have not accrued rights to the payments in a previous job.

Angela Merkel wants to stop EU migrants from claiming benefits in Germany for five years

German newspaper Die Welt said the new laws, drafted by SPD labour minister Andrea Nahles, would be debated by Mrs Merkel's cabinet next week.

The proposal would have a similar impact to one the UK government demanded ahead of the EU referendum.

After months of negotiation, David Cameron was eventually offered an 'emergency brake' on migration which created a seven year window in which new arrivals to Britain from the EU could be denied benefits.

The controversial proposal, which was opposed by several EU states for fear it would undermine EU free movement, was scrapped when Britain voted for Brexit in June.

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Germany is allowed to press on with its own reforms to stop EU migrants claiming benefits because the system in the country is partly based on claimants having made earlier contributions through taxation.

In Britain, benefits are entitlements which require no cash contribution - meaning the UK needed a treaty change to pursue similar reforms because EU law means all citizens must be treated the same by benefit systems.

Mrs Merkel is under acute pressure over the level of immigration to Germany after initiating an 'open door' policy to refugees entering Europe.

Hundreds of thousands of people have since arrived in Germany from the Middle East and North Africa and left Mrs Merkel facing a political backlash that threatens her run for re-election.

The proposal put forward by Mrs Merkel's government would have a similar impact to one the David Cameron demanded ahead of the EU referendum. The leaders are pictured together at an EU summit on the issue last year

The new laws will not impact on non-European migration but could allow Mrs Merkel to make the case she is getting the wider system under control.

Both the SPD and Angela Merkel’s liberal-conservative CDU have lost support among working-class voters due to concerns about immigration, with the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party picking up votes.

The coalition partners are attempting to claw back support ahead of a general election in Germany in 2017.

The political backdrop of Brexit has thrown the wider European migration system under the spotlight.

Prime Minister Theresa May has made clear she wants to put over Britain's borders as her first priority in the forthcoming negotiations with the remaining 27 EU states.

The move is likely to mean Britain is denied membership of the EU single market - a position reiterated by both Mrs Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in the past 24 hours.